Ah yes, The Primitives. I loved their fuzzy ‘n husky late-80s single Crash, singer Tracy Tracy was on par with her ‘blonde pop’ rivals, Wendy James of Transvision Vamp and Darling Buds‘ Andrea Lewis. Pitchfork rightly said that The Primitives were the role models for current bands like Best Coast and Vivian Girls.
The Primitives reformed and made a new album, Echoes and Rhymes. It features covers of songs sung by girls, like ‘Turn off the moon’ by Lolita-actress Sue Lyons, and ‘Single Girl’ by Sandy Posey. You guessed it, there’s also a French tune (with a heavy accent) – Amoureux d’une affiche, originally sung by Laura Ulmer. The daughter of actor Georges Ulmer, Laura had a few hits in France in the 60s before moving to Canada. There, she recorded some more and acted in (tv-)movies. To be honest, I’d never heard of Laura, I seemed to have missed Mordi’s post on her. Thanks to FS-regular Anna Maria for the tip!Laura Ulmer – Amoureux d’une afficheThe Primitives – Amoureux d’une affiche

Sky’s verdict: As for a few of the originals, see Legrand Mellon, Polly Niles, Sandy Posey, Adam & Eve or Dutch favorites Shocking Blue. Even FS’s secret mastermind Roy Black only knew four of the originals, and that guy knows everything. The Laura Ulmer cover actually is the least impressive on this gorgeous rarity bonanza of an album, balancing ultra-coolly between Motown copycats, Northern Soul, Garage goodies, girlie psych-outs and Sunshine Pop. Surely the most hip album of the year, including a Jesus & Marychain-like version of Olivia Newton-John’s 1966 debut:

The four-track EP by Lou Doillon (fille de Jane Birkin & Jacques Doillon) is out. It features two versions of the title-track ICU, the brass-y remix by Bright Moments is truly beautiful. Mid-tempo groover Devil and Angel is very much in the vein of her half-sister Charlotte, Questions And Answers is a piano-driven track that gets more interesting when the chorus comes on. As said before, Philippe Zdar and Etienne Daho are the big names behind this EP. I don’t think we’ll hear Lou sing in French on her upcoming album (September), but one can hope, right?
See Lou sing ICU and Questions and Answers live.Lou Doillon – ICU (Bright Moments remix)

An angelic female voice duetting with a male gravel-gargeler (if that’s a word) – ever since Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra set the standard for this musical template, our world has been enriched by tracks from Serge & Jane, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue and countless gothic metal bands. Canadian singer-songwriter Zane, who sounds a lot like Lanegan, teamed up with the lovely miss Rosie Komadina, who calls herself a Croatian gypsy and producer on Twitter, to sing a part English, part French track that’s best summed up in these lines: ‘My mama said if you roll with the gamblers you’ll pay their debts/And sometimes you’ll run into black cats and a few regrets.’ Listen to it on their Bandcamp page (link below). By the way, if you’re into Lee Hazlewood, check out the superbe re-issue of his duets with (among others) Ann-Margret on Light In The Attic, here.

We’re sorry. There is a lot happening. And we tend to miss things. That is the only reason I can find for writing so late about our sweetheart Berry. We only mentioned her here. Nothing more. And of course Berry deserves more (and not only because she is the French singer I saw perform more than once here in the Netherlands).
But what to think about the new album “Les Passagers” that we have to wait about for more than two years? It is a lovely album. If you like Berry that is. Don’t we all? That said, it doesn’t really surprise. There are no songs that really stand out, like we had on her first album, “Mademoiselle“. That album, #2 on the 2008 yearlist, had songs like the title song “Mademoiselle” and “Le bonheur” keep humming in your head. But even, after a few rounds of listening I can’t name a song so intense on the new album.
But still, more of the same isn’t always a bad thing. That proofs this song “Ce matin”.
Be honest, isn’t that the Berry we like to sing for us for ages?Berry – Ce Matin
See the video for Si C’est La Viehere

Some filles take long times between albums. Not our Fredda. She is very dedicated when it comes to new albums. Almost every year she serves us with a new one. In 2007 she released “Toutes mes aventures” and in 2009 “Marshmallow Paradise“.
There were also two sixties cocktail albums as Radiomatic together with Pascale Parisot, in 2006 and 2010).
and now there is “L’Ancolie” (Columbine in English). I haven’t heard or read much about it and that is a pity, to be honest. Because it is a wonderful, melancholic album. On this new album she works closely together with Pascale Parisot, Bastien Lallemant and Filles Sourires’ own Marianne Dissard.
Here is the video of the title track “l’Ancolie“. This is the video for “Il ne me reste”.
On the albumm there are two songs co-written by Marianne: “Journal Intime” and the first track of the album “Morin Heights”. Since that is an ode to the place where the album is conceived I’ll bring it to you here: